National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The Amazon is both an ecological and economic region of importance to its inhabitants and the world community. For this reason, the recent increase in fires in the Amazon has sparked worldwide attention. The Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model can be used to monitor the effects of the fires using a state-of-the-art chemistry package (GEOS-Chem) coupled with full 3D atmospheric data assimilation and modeling. The included animation shows the evolution and transport of carbon monoxide (CO) using the GEOS model. CO is one byproduct of biomass burning. The location of the fires can be observed as periodic pulses in the CO concentration. Read More.